1. Field of the Invention
The present invention concerns a mechanized portable electric tool with two shafts, for example, for pruning or cutting trees or shrubs.
2. Description of Related Art Including Information Disclosed Under 37 CFR 1.97 and 37 CFR 1.98.
In the fields of agricultural and horticultural activities, and for maintaining open spaces and gardens, manual or mechanized pruning shears are customarily used for trimming whenever branches that require cutting are accessible and can be sectioned at arm's length by the user. In some cases, the branches that require cutting are not within arm's reach and it is necessary to use extension tools.
In the case of manual tools, so-called “universal” shears are used to cut small, low branches of woody plants or shrubs. These universal shears consist of two robust arms intersecting in the vicinity of one of their extremities and assembled, at their point of intersection, by means of an articulation, which delimits, on the one hand, two cutting blades forming the active head of the shears and, on the other hand, two shafts of equal length equipped with handles (see U.S.-D 464543).
A drawback inherent in this type of cutting tool resides in the fact that even though they can be used to reach distant branches, the force developed manually is inadequate and the opening of the two shafts occupies considerable space.
On the other hand, for cutting branches that cannot be reached with tools held in the hand or at arm's length, numerous mechanized portable electric tools have been proposed, installed at the upper extremity of a long shaft or pole, which may or may not be telescopic. US-2008/0052916 describes a cutting tool of this type manually actuated by means of a cord; WO-2008/023705 describes an electric pruning shears installed at the end of a long shaft, while U.S. Pat. No. 4,207,675 describes a chain saw mounted at the upper extremity of a long shaft.
Such tools can be used to reach and cut relatively high branches, depending on the length of the pole.
However, while such tools can be held with both hands during use, both of the user's hands must necessarily be placed one after the other along the shaft or pole, thereby limiting the height that can be achieved and the possibility of instantaneously obtaining the proper positioning of the active head of the tool.